Posted on 15 February 2019 by The Hartford Guardian

HARTFORD — Hartford officials have secured housing vouchers to help combat youth homelessness in the city

Mayor Luke Bronin announced the news on Friday, saying vouchers are one of the most effective ways of addressing homelessness.

The city applied to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and secured 83 new housing vouchers worth $734,831.

The vouchers are a part of HUD’s Family Unification Program designed to secure housing for families with children who are in foster care and at risk of being separated because of lack of housing. But this new grant award can also be given to young people between 18 and 24, who have aged out of foster care.

“Hartford and Connecticut have built powerful partnerships to help reduce homelessness, but far too many young people in our city wake up every day without stable housing, wondering where they will spend the night,” Bronin said. “This grant is a really important way to combat youth homelessness and help young people find stable housing.”

City officials said Hartford won more vouchers than cities like New York, Seattle and Pittsburgh. The city has joined forces with other social agencies to fight homelessness.

“These new vouchers represent a great opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of the country that with the right investment, coordination, and partnerships, long-term solutions to youth homelessness are possible,” said Matt Morgan, executive director of Journey Home, a nonprofit organization that is a part of the Greater Hartford Youth Engagement Team Initiative, which is a program started by a coalition of social service agencies, government agencies and other stakeholder aiming to combat homelessness.

In November 2018, HUD rolled out 3,000 vouchers to combat youth homelessness across the nation.

The other two cities that have received HUD’s housing vouchers are Bristol with 31 and Stamford with 28. The Connecticut Department of Housing received 72.